OCZ's 60GB Core V2 SSD - $239 after MIR

It's become obvious to me over the past year that our standard hard drives is one of the reasons our computers remain slow during some heavy-duty work. On my own PC, I have a fast HDD, but even copying a 10GB folder will render the PC slow for the entire duration. And that's on a nice Quad-Core machine with 4GB of RAM! That's why SSDs are likely to be the future, and why interest is high.

Though I haven't played around with SSDs myself, I've seen demos at conferences that have been extremely impressive, especially if you pair a few together in RAID. Copying a file at an actual 1GB/s? Yes, please! The problem a year ago though, was that any SSD was far, far too expensive. Luckily, prices are dropping at a record pace, and some of them are actually becoming somewhat affordable, like OCZ's Core Series V2.

Our friends at DailyTech happened to notice that NewEgg is now stocking these drives, and the 60GB model is currently selling for $239 after MIR... much easier to stomach than what it would have been just a few months ago. The V2 boasts read speeds of 170 MB/s with write speeds of 98 MB/s... very impressive. I'll still sit back and wait for prices to drop even further, but it's going to be a great day when we can all fill up our own desktops with such drives. It's only a matter of time.

For comparison, original 64GB Core Series SSD (OCZSSD2-1C64G) is priced at $264 on Newegg. Like its newer brother, the older model also comes with a $60 manufacturer rebate which drops the price to $204. The older 64GB SSD feature slower read and write speeds of 143MB/sec and 93MB/sec respectively. It also lacks the built-in mini-USB port for firmware upgrades.

Source: DailyTech

Mythbusters Were Allowed to Air RFID Segment?

Yesterday, I posted about Adam Savage and his talk given at the The Last HOPE conference back in July, where he talked about the Mythbusters show's inability to broadcast a segment on RFID... and well, it seems there are a few inaccuracies there. All it took was an explosion of this talk all over the web to find out!

According to a new C|Net post, an RFID segment actually did air, although I don't recall ever seeing it. By how it seems, it only aired once, but chances are it wasn't, given how often the Discovery Channel plays old episodes. Adam also is now backtracking:

"If I went into the detail of exactly why this story didn't get filmed, it's so bizarre and convoluted that no one would believe me, but suffice to say...the decision not to continue on with the RFID story was made by our production company, Beyond Productions, and had nothing to do with Discovery, or their ad sales department."

While the episode did air, it apparently didn't talk about any insecurities, so I'm really not sure what 'myth' was being covered. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but something still doesn't seem to add up. If they are indeed able to cover RFID, maybe they should do it again, this time covering the fact that it's an insecure technology. Who out there thinks that'll happen?

From his statement, it's also logical to conclude that when he told the Last HOPE audience that co-host Belleci was on the conference call, he had meant Grant Imahara, another MythBuster co-host. Further, a Discovery Channel representative told me that MythBusters did end up running an episode, last January, on RFID, but that the issue of the technology's security holes was not addressed.

Source: C|Net

Pioneer's Flagship Blu-ray Player Restores Movie's Original Color

Who said Blu-ray was a dying format? Sure wasn't me, and according to Pioneer, it must not be. Why? Because somehow they imagine they'll be able to sell a $2,199 Blu-ray player, that's why. But let's not discredit it just yet... it might have a few features that really do make it the ultimate player around.

What makes the Elite BDP-09FD player so special is because it includes a dedicated chip that restores movies to a 16-bit deep color range, which is in a sense, a recovery method. When movies are left in their raw format, (master copies), the colors, tones and hues can differ from post-production movies. This chip is supposed to restore those and deliver a much richer and accurate image.

Whether or not it actually works or not, who knows, but if you happen to have a $2,200 bill lying around and feel ambitious, by all means, go for it. Besides the 'restore' feature, Pioneer also promises this player to become the best DVD upscaler ever. Still think it's too expensive? Well, you are not their target audience, as Senior VP at Pioneer notes, "If you really think about price, price, price, you will miss out on the performance enthusiasts, and that's who we want. They can do a really nice job of pushing the technology."

The Elite Blu-ray Disc player also features Pioneer’s proprietary Adaptive Bit Length Expansion technology, which allows the purest color representation of a movie's original studio master. Through a dedicated chip, the player restores Blu-ray Disc movies, produced in 8-bit color back to the vivid 16-bit deep color gamut resulting in an HD picture filled with hues and tones that replicates the cinematic intentions of the films’ creators.

Source: Pioneer Press Release, Via: Wired

LetsCall.me - How to Accept Calls Anonymously

Being a big security buff, I love finding out new ways to remain anonymous to a certain degree, but the problem is that nowadays, it's almost impossible. But, there are always ways to make things better, and if you happen to want to keep your phone number hidden, then there's a new web service for you.

Called LetsCall.me, the service allows you to create a quick account, with an identifier that you'd like to appear in the URL. From there, you can pass that URL to anyone of your choosing, and they'll be able to put in their phone number, which you will be able to see. From that point, LetsCall.me will connect to your phone, and if you pick up, their phone will ring. Once they pick up, voila, you're connected, all while having your phone number hidden.

The cool thing is that this is a free service, and it seems to be a great way to keep your phone number hidden from someone you don't know that well, or will only deal with once. Unless you are Kevin Mitnick, chances are you're going to be unable to reveal the recipients real number, but hey, anything's possible, right? It's services like this that make the Internet so rich. The phone company could only hope of providing a service this cool, and if they did, they'd undoubtedly charge for it.

Benefits of LetsCall.me: Accept calls anonymously without revealing your phone number, No caller id blocking - always know who's calling, Block unwanted callers, Easier to remember than a phone number, Great for Craigslist and other internet sites, Be safe - don't give out your phone number, use LetsCall.me

Source: LetsCall.me

Xbox 360 Prices Drops in Effect Tomorrow - $199 for Arcade

"Whoa!" That's all that can be said about the upcoming price drops on the Xbox 360 from Microsoft, because they're making the Arcade version of the console so inexpensive, that the Wii ends up costing more! That model of course doesn't include a hard drive among a few other things, but it's still a very affordable cost-of-entry.

Starting tomorrow, the price of the Arcade version will hit $199, while the Pro (60GB) will hit $299, which by itself, is still only $50 more than the Wii, but far more powerful. That will likely be the preferred choice for any new buyers, as the included hard drive is a almost a requirement in order to enjoy any of today's games. The HDMI support sure doesn't hurt either.

The Elite still remains at $399, although I'm unsure exactly why it still costs so much more than the rest. It also includes HDMI, and an upgraded 120GB hard drive and... that seems to be it. It's painted black though, which might be worth the premium to some (it was to me back in the day, for some reason). Still, the first two models come in at great prices, and I'm still impressed to see that the Wii costs more than the Arcade version. Though I might just be easily impressed, maybe.

"We are thrilled to be the first next-generation console on the market to reach $199, a price that invites everyone to enjoy Xbox 360," said Microsoft SVP Don Mattrick in a statement. "Xbox 360 delivers amazing performance at an extraordinary value with the leading online service and best lineup of games, downloadable movies and TV shows available from a console.

Source: Ars Technica

Google Chrome - To Love, or Not to Love?

You know that technology is really ingrained into our lives when all the headlines are filled up with Google Chrome-related news. You'd almost swear it was an Apple product! Even my mom, who's not high on tech, asked me on the day of release if I used it yet. Somehow, the browser was newsworthy enough to appear on TV news, although I'm not sure what channel that was on.

Well, are people still excited about Chrome as they were on day one? Well, it's hard to say, and it seems to be those who are happy, still have their reserve on why not to use it. For me, it might be the privacy policies, but I'm still waiting until the final launch before those are finalized, in hopes that they change for the better. Another reason might be the fact that it already has a DoS (thanks Don for the link) vulnerability. That sure didn't take long, but it's unsurprising. Other browser launches have suffered similar fates.

A few others are still pumped though, and even created some 'top lists', like Mashable!, who found seven things to really like about Chrome. My favorite might be Lifehacker's list of Firefox extensions that enable the best features of Chrome... in Firefox, which you can see the link and quote for below.

In way of fun statistics, yesterday, our traffic saw Chrome usage of 5.44% of all visitors, while today, (first ten hours), we saw 3.34%. Small decrease, but is is a beta after all. It's clear that there are fans though, and people will continue to use it until it drives them nuts with a killer caveat. I'm still waiting for follow-up beta releases though. Google might be doing something great here (minus the privacy policy, of course). If you haven't already, be sure to goggle over our in-depth first-look.

Apart from a few specific issues (namely process management), many of Chrome's best features are already available in Firefox 3, proving yet again the power of extensibility. From incognito browsing and the streamlined download manager to URL highlighting and improved search, let's take a look at how you can bring some of Google Chrome's best features to Firefox.

Source: Lifehacker

Tech Roundup - September 4, 2008

• ASUS Rampage Extreme - Hardware Canucks
• Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 - HardwareOC

• Foxconn 9500GT-256FR3 - Bjorn3D
• ViewSonic VX1962wm 19-inch Widescreen LCD Monitor - Think Computers
• ZOTAC GeForce 9500 GT ZONE Edition - TweakTown
• ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GTX+ Zone Edition - Benchmark Reviews

• A-DATA 16 GB 350x Turbo Compact Flash Card - techPowerUp!
• iStarUSA T-5 SS Mobile HD Rack - Top Review Shop

• Gaming Mice: Logitech vs. Razer vs. Microsoft - TechSpot
• Logitech V550 Nano Mouse - Digital Trends
• TRENDnet TEW-624UB 300Mbps Wireless N USB 2.0 Adapter - TweakTown

• Xigmatek HDT-S1284EE Heatsink - FrostyTech

• Coolmax HD250 Series 2.5 Enclosures - Pro-Clockers

• Folding@home Contest: XFX 9600 GSO - Bjorn3D
• Phoronix Test Suite 1.2 Released - Phoronix